1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to enterprise systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for handling shared and personal preferences in a presence-enabled communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
An important trend in communications technology is the ability of a user to impose personal preferences on the operation and use of personal communications devices, such as VoIP phones, cellular telephones, PDA's etc. For example, SIP, H.323 and other VoIP protocols have been developed to facilitate user establishment and control of personal features on their personal devices. These protocols have been designed within the bounds of the traditional ‘end-to-end’ communication model. However these assumptions have serious limitations when they are applied to enterprise communications. In such communications, users leverage system resources for collaboration to accomplish enterprise goals, and will often use a mixture of shared and personal devices, as discussed in greater detail below.
A second important trend in communications technology is the use of applications over the Internet so as to permit people to collaborate over large distances as if they were in the same place. With VoIP, IM, chat sessions and other collaborative systems, it is possible to create virtual collaboration sessions that can span large distances. For example, industry analysts and academics refer to the ‘death of distance’ when discussing Internet applications applied to the operation of companies and their supply chains. In discussing such emerging applications, users are envisaged as being equipped with personal devices that enable them to negotiate sessions with others no matter where they are in the world. It is anticipated that users at various end points will be able to define and operate applications without any intervening control in the network
With this capability, the Internet can create virtual proximity among the distributed employees of a company. However, this communication model omits an essential element for enterprise success. Most people still work in real proximity to each other. People still work in offices and meet with their colleagues in meeting rooms, hallways etc. They interact and build applications by use of both personal and shared resources. Indeed, much research has found that these informal and ad hoc interactions are essential for enterprise success, and that most information transfer is effected and decisions made through these mechanisms.
Contrary to the afore-noted expectations of virtual applications, users most commonly collaborate in real space, rather than virtual space, where the intervening network offers no constraints on user application and behavior. Users operating in real space do not have absolute control of the space in which they and their applications operate. They share spaces and the resources that are contained within them. There are norms and expectations on applications behavior and resource sharing within these real spaces. Importantly, and not accounted for in ‘death of distance’ discussions prevalent in the prior art, these real spaces have ‘owners’ who expect to be able to manage and control the interactions in the areas under their purview.
For example, consider a private office in which the occupant (referred to herein as the “owner”) can meet with his/her colleagues and share information. The owner of an office space may reasonably expect to be able to direct the types of interactions that will go on within that space. Visitors to the office may be expected to bring their personal devices such as PDAs, wireless telephones, and lap top computers with them. In addition, the office may have resources that can be used to facilitate collaboration. For example, there may be screens on which presentations can be viewed, printers etc. The office owner will normally wish to make these available to his/her guests and colleagues in order to facilitate collaboration on activities of interest to the owner. However, it is also expected that the owner will be desirous of controlling access to these devices so as to efficiently organize his/her own activities that are focused in the owner's office space.
Even though the space owner has specific rights to the resources within his/her space, visitors will still be able to share these resources for enterprise purposes. For example, a visitor may be automatically registered by a location-enabled enterprise communication system as being present within an office so that calls for the visitor may automatically be forwarded to the owner's office telephone. Clearly, the forwarding of calls to the owner's office telephone while visiting (or to a meeting room telephone while participating in a meeting) must be done within strict expectations. The same can be said for the use of personal devices such as cell phones, PDAs etc. to make and receive calls. It would be outside of the expectations imposed by societal norms to use these devices for purposes that are not concerned with the current communal activity on which all parties are collaborating. Failure to observe these norms can lead to concerns that work against efficient collaboration.
The foregoing example illustrates the tension that can exist between the enforcement of multiple user preferences for the control of shared services or devices within an organization. A visitor can receive services within someone else's environment. However according to conventional norms, his or her use of services must be compatible with the objectives of others with whom he or she is collaborating, and specifically must be compatible with the objectives of the space owner.
The inventor has recognized that, as enterprise systems evolve, users will simultaneously have access to and communicate via their own personal devices (e.g. VoIP phone, cell phone, PDA, laptop computer, etc.) as well as shared devices (a conference room phone, printer, interactive wall screen, etc.) Thus, a user's ‘presence’ (the means by which the user may be contacted) will contain elements of each. As discussed above, emerging communication protocols permit a user to express his/her preferences for the operation of the user's personal devices (e.g. a user's personal call processing may be programmed with the user's policies and preferences). However these preferences must operate in compliance with the expectations and preferences of others in order to ensure efficient collaboration.